BNSF 2012 economic development efforts lead to record investments and jobs

BNSF's economic development generated approximately $1.8 billion in new investment and more than 6,200 new jobs in 23 states.

The 194 new and expanding facilities located on BNSF in 2012 included signature rail equipment manufacturing projects in Fort Worth, Texas and Rochelle, Ill. Efforts in 2012 also included 44 projects to support the agricultural industry in 12 states, including 10 new grain shuttle facilities.

The expanding oil and gas industry continued as a major source of economic development projects for BNSF. As demand for crude oil from the various U.S. shale formations continues to rise, so do investments in new rail facilities. In response to this demand, last year, the BNSF economic development team assisted customers in locating and completing five new crude oil unit train terminals in North Dakota and Montana. In addition, several new destination crude oil facilities were located in Washington, Missouri, Texas and Florida. These investments surpassed $300 million.

"2012 was a record year for BNSF economic development efforts. We broke our all-time job creation and project completion records and attained the second highest level of customer investment in our service territory," said Vann Cunningham, BNSF assistant vice president, economic development. "This is a testament to the economic development potential of rail transportation, its growing importance to the nation's economy and the commitment of our partner state and local economic development organizations to supporting rail-served industry investment and job creation in their communities."